A London council has revealed that a social housing tenant claimed their property was a private one, and fraudulently sub-let it to innocent renters. 

Lewisham council says its tenancy audit team ended 80 tenancies in the past 12 months that were either sub-let, abandoned or otherwise fraudulent.

In one case, the team was approached by a sub-tenant because their landlord – who in fact was renting the property directly from the council – had fraudulently let it out and the. evicted the renters from the property. 

The sub-tenant in this case became aware of the property through friends and believed it was a private one for rent. Following a dispute, they were told to leave the property without notice.

They contacted the council which helped the innocent renters collect their belongings; the council then began proceedings to take possession of the property.

Now the council is appealing to its own tenants to ‘grass’ on neighbours who may be fraudulently sub-letting.

A statement from the council says “our experience shows that residents are best placed to know what is taking place on the estates they live on.”